D-Day Foundation Nears Debt Settlement

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, January 23, 2003

The National D-Day Memorial Foundation said Friday it is nearing a settlement with its major creditors to pay back about $3.8 million and pull itself out of bankruptcy.

"Our creditors have been understandably impatient," foundation Chairman Peter Viemeister said. "And understandably we have been frustrated because we couldn't pay."

The $25 million memorial, which honors Allied soldiers who fought in the 1944 invasion of Normandy, was about $7 million in debt when the foundation acknowledged its financial troubles last year.

Foundation officials sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November when two of the memorial's major creditors, Coleman Adams Construction Inc. and architect Dickson & Associates, sued for their money.

The foundation estimates it owes $1.6 million to Coleman Adams and $869,000 to Dickson.

The memorial was dedicated by President Bush on June 6, 2001. Hoping to complete the granite arch and sprawling campus before many aging veterans died, foundation members agreed to build on borrowed money.

Federal authorities have investigated the memorial's finances and former President Richard Burrow was indicted on fraud charges. His trial in December ended with a hung jury. Prosecutors have not decided whether to retry the case.